Student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Begusarai in Bihar as a CPI candidate, exudes confidence about his prospects. In an interview with BusinessLine , he says the results will surprise poll analysts. Edited excerpts:

How confident are you of winning this election?

My hopes of winning go up day by day when I see the fear of losing in the eyes of my opponents’ . Seeingthe love and affection being showered on me, I feel we will win. It will not be my victory but the victory of the people of Begusarai.

The entire State of Bihar is divided on caste lines. Begusarai is no different. How will you muster enough support to overcome this?

All political calculations and caste equations will be disrupted in Begusarai this time. Results will surprise poll analysts on May 23. They would see new equations and dynamics emerging. When I go around and meet people, I see they are fed up of communal politics and division of people on caste and religion.

Delhi government has sought one month’s time to decide whether to permit the Delhi Police to pursue the sedition charges against you. What do you think about it?

It is a conspiracy by the BJP government at the Centre. Based on this baseless allegation, it tried to stop the submission of my doctoral thesis.

In this sedition case too, they are using the same fabricated evidence. Since the chargesheet is not accepted, we are unable to get a copy of it, but what comes out in the media, we know what is there in those 1,200 pages.

Delhi government has solid evidence which it gathered through a magisterial inquiry into the February 2016 incident in JNU. The magisterial inquiry has given us a clean chit. Not a single JNU student was involved in anti-national activities, it has clearly shown.

This is a political trap laid by the BJP to portray us, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress and other opposition parties as anti-national.

Sitting in the saddle, they are calling the Opposition names.

Don’t you think Mahagadbandhan should have supported you?

In Begusarai, public support enjoyed by these political parties has eroded. The people in this constituency have forged an alliance, whether their leaders have come together or not.

The leaders would start wondering where has their base gone after the election. It is another matter that they may flock back to them by the next round of elections. In this election, they want to defeat an outsider to make the ‘ lal ’ of their soil to emerge victorious.

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